We were in London last week and had spent who knows how many hours in various forms of transportation. As Tony and I were sitting on the train, each with a wriggly child in our laps, I began to picture what it would be like to travel with them and our twins too. Axa would be five, Raj would be Axa’s age, and the twins would be Raj’s age. So essentially, I commented to Tony, we would have two Axas and two Rajs. In my harried, unrested state, I found this wildly funny. It took me several minutes to regain my composure.
I just need to remember, though, that many people think that traveling with two young children is insane. I’m sure if you’d just plopped the children on my lap and sent me on a trip without any practice, I would have thought it insane myself.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Which Twins
I’ve had names for my twins since early on in my pregnancy with Raj. I just woke up with them in my mind one morning. Laurel Eliana and Rowan Belen. My desire to have twins feels both beautiful and true to me. And it shows no signs of slackening with time. I think that Laurel and Rowan are aware of it and waiting to come.
I ordered Anne Geddes’ book Pure at our local bookshop a few weeks ago. I’m going to make a little collage of some of the pictures out of it. Sort of like a “vision board.” I believe one of the most important aids to conceiving twins is visualizations. Once I’ve made sure that my body is getting optimal nutrition and is hormonally balanced, I just need to visualize the twinning event. To properly visualize it though, I needed to read up on exactly what happens in early pregnancy.
There are, of course, two possible twinning events corresponding to the two types of twins. The first is double ovulation/double fertilization. If I release two eggs rather than one and both are fertilized and implant properly, I’ll have dizygotic, or fraternal twins. The second possible twinning event is an egg that splits after fertilization, causing monozygotic twins. A third possibility is the egg splitting before fertilization, a sort of in-between option that some people theorize as a reason for fraternal twins seeming more similar than they really ought to be genetically.
I have my heart set on identical girls. Laurel and Rowan. I know that monozygotic twins are prone more problems than fraternals, so I researched further. Apparently, most of these problems are related to mono-chorionicity and mono-amnionicity, or sharing of placentas and amniotic sacs.
I ordered Anne Geddes’ book Pure at our local bookshop a few weeks ago. I’m going to make a little collage of some of the pictures out of it. Sort of like a “vision board.” I believe one of the most important aids to conceiving twins is visualizations. Once I’ve made sure that my body is getting optimal nutrition and is hormonally balanced, I just need to visualize the twinning event. To properly visualize it though, I needed to read up on exactly what happens in early pregnancy.
There are, of course, two possible twinning events corresponding to the two types of twins. The first is double ovulation/double fertilization. If I release two eggs rather than one and both are fertilized and implant properly, I’ll have dizygotic, or fraternal twins. The second possible twinning event is an egg that splits after fertilization, causing monozygotic twins. A third possibility is the egg splitting before fertilization, a sort of in-between option that some people theorize as a reason for fraternal twins seeming more similar than they really ought to be genetically.
I have my heart set on identical girls. Laurel and Rowan. I know that monozygotic twins are prone more problems than fraternals, so I researched further. Apparently, most of these problems are related to mono-chorionicity and mono-amnionicity, or sharing of placentas and amniotic sacs.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Yoruba Yams
I’ve come up with quite a good list of factors, and some interesting insights. For example, most people thinking about having twins think mainly about inducing multiple ovulation. However, I have noticed that miscarriages of a multiple (also called “vanishing twin”) are much more common than singleton miscarriages. Evidently, there is more at work here than the usual chromosomal defects, immune disorders, and unknown causes that are implicated in miscarriages. Surprisingly enough, some sources say that 1 in 8 pregnancies begins as a multiple pregnancy. That’s a lot of vanishing twins. It seems to me that someone wishing for twins should concentrate on making sure both babies “stick,” since multiple ovulation is not nearly as uncommon as it might seem. In fact, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, the book that taught me to chart my cycle, suggests adding an extra day of possible fertility every cycle to allow for double ovulation within the 24 hours after ovulation.
Later I will discuss general fertility factors, since I believe they will also be helpful.
However, I’ve come up with several controllable factors that are mentioned as directly contributory in twinning rates
The first is yams. The Noruba Tribe in Nigeria has a dramatically high twinning rate, which some researchers attribute to their high consumption of this tuber. I researched this, since there’s the continual debate about the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Turns out that our sweet potatoes just resembled yams to people of African extraction. Actually, they are not really related to true yams. I’ve found an online store in the UK that ships garri, which is sort of a “potato pearls” version of african yams. The preparation process is apparently quite complex, involving several days of fermentation to remove natural toxins. I have heard from different sources that the reasons these work to cause hyperovulation is 1) they contain phytoestrogens, which help the body to produce more estrogen and ovulate more, and 2) they contain progesterone, which helps the eggs to stick once they’ve implanted. Not sure which of these is actually true. Probably both.
Later I will discuss general fertility factors, since I believe they will also be helpful.
However, I’ve come up with several controllable factors that are mentioned as directly contributory in twinning rates
The first is yams. The Noruba Tribe in Nigeria has a dramatically high twinning rate, which some researchers attribute to their high consumption of this tuber. I researched this, since there’s the continual debate about the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Turns out that our sweet potatoes just resembled yams to people of African extraction. Actually, they are not really related to true yams. I’ve found an online store in the UK that ships garri, which is sort of a “potato pearls” version of african yams. The preparation process is apparently quite complex, involving several days of fermentation to remove natural toxins. I have heard from different sources that the reasons these work to cause hyperovulation is 1) they contain phytoestrogens, which help the body to produce more estrogen and ovulate more, and 2) they contain progesterone, which helps the eggs to stick once they’ve implanted. Not sure which of these is actually true. Probably both.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Pink Camellia
The other day I came across a product called “Conception Essence.” It’s a combination of flower and gem essences to facilitate conception. Pink Camellia was listed as follows: “nurtures the mothering spirit within all women, especially where their own mothering experience may have been lacking. Helping to heal the spirit of the lost mother within, Pink Camellia brings wholeness and readiness to mother a new life and helps to remove the need to be perfect in order to be loved.”
Something I have struggled with is that feeling that I must be perfect in order to be loved. Whether it means perfectly thin, perfectly organized, perfectly calm and even-tempered, or whatever other aspect of perfection I feel that I am lacking at the moment. I know that parenting twins is difficult. Most people don’t ask for it. So I feel as if I ought to be perfect before I do ask.
Somehow, in my mind, the concept of twins is tied to perfection: yin and yang, the perfect balance, somehow the perfect life.
In my mind, I pictured living in a cute little house in one of the most beautiful villages in France, with a little garden and chickens and goats (all enclosed by neat white picket fences), and giving birth to twins at home in the water, with my hypnobirthing music playing. It’s an idealistic vision. I am an idealistic person, and I work hard to make my ideals into reality.
They usually turn out as beautiful as I imagine, although somehow the only imperfect ingredient seems to be myself.
Something I have struggled with is that feeling that I must be perfect in order to be loved. Whether it means perfectly thin, perfectly organized, perfectly calm and even-tempered, or whatever other aspect of perfection I feel that I am lacking at the moment. I know that parenting twins is difficult. Most people don’t ask for it. So I feel as if I ought to be perfect before I do ask.
Somehow, in my mind, the concept of twins is tied to perfection: yin and yang, the perfect balance, somehow the perfect life.
In my mind, I pictured living in a cute little house in one of the most beautiful villages in France, with a little garden and chickens and goats (all enclosed by neat white picket fences), and giving birth to twins at home in the water, with my hypnobirthing music playing. It’s an idealistic vision. I am an idealistic person, and I work hard to make my ideals into reality.
They usually turn out as beautiful as I imagine, although somehow the only imperfect ingredient seems to be myself.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The beginning
Although I’d been wishing for twins for quite some time, the conventional opinion regarding them is that nothing short of heredity or fertility drugs (and a few other set factors such as maternal age, race, and greater than average height and weight) can influence the chances of conceiving twins. So I just wished, without thinking there was anything I could do about it.
However, a few weeks ago, my husband suggested that if we prayed for twins, God would send them to us. After all, we prayed for him to help us come to Italy, and he did. He’s answered many other prayers in my life too. I pondered my husband’s suggestion for several days, and determined that I should indeed start praying for twins (although my baby now is not quite one, and we won’t be trying for another until next April when he’s older and our new international insurance will cover a birth).
Shortly after I decided this, I was doing shivasana after my yoga practice, and praying as I often do during that time. Suddenly, my mind was opened to an understanding of how God would help me conceive twins. Rather than just praying for him to send them to me, I thought, I should pray for him to help me learn how to help my body conceive twins.
It was an interesting paradigm shift. After all, I already know quite a bit about my fertile cycle. I chart when I actually have a fertile cycle (at the moment I have lactation-induced amenorrea; i.e. no period--and hence no ovulation--because I’m nursing). A few days later I was sick with some stomach ailment, and my husband gave me a blessing in which he told me that Heavenly Father would help me to understand my body better as I learned how to conceive twins and worked toward that goal.
Since that day, a few weeks ago, I’ve been searching the internet for ways to naturally increase my chances of having twins. Most of the information I’ve found is on message boards, where I’ve discovered there are quite a few other women with the same desire. Some hear the ticking of a biological clock, some have been told they can only have one more pregnancy, some would just like twins. Like me.
However, a few weeks ago, my husband suggested that if we prayed for twins, God would send them to us. After all, we prayed for him to help us come to Italy, and he did. He’s answered many other prayers in my life too. I pondered my husband’s suggestion for several days, and determined that I should indeed start praying for twins (although my baby now is not quite one, and we won’t be trying for another until next April when he’s older and our new international insurance will cover a birth).
Shortly after I decided this, I was doing shivasana after my yoga practice, and praying as I often do during that time. Suddenly, my mind was opened to an understanding of how God would help me conceive twins. Rather than just praying for him to send them to me, I thought, I should pray for him to help me learn how to help my body conceive twins.
It was an interesting paradigm shift. After all, I already know quite a bit about my fertile cycle. I chart when I actually have a fertile cycle (at the moment I have lactation-induced amenorrea; i.e. no period--and hence no ovulation--because I’m nursing). A few days later I was sick with some stomach ailment, and my husband gave me a blessing in which he told me that Heavenly Father would help me to understand my body better as I learned how to conceive twins and worked toward that goal.
Since that day, a few weeks ago, I’ve been searching the internet for ways to naturally increase my chances of having twins. Most of the information I’ve found is on message boards, where I’ve discovered there are quite a few other women with the same desire. Some hear the ticking of a biological clock, some have been told they can only have one more pregnancy, some would just like twins. Like me.
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